January saw 8 books read, February saw 9 and March saw 9 - giving 26 books read for the first quarter of which 20 were new to me authors.
January - 6 new from 8
David Putnam - The Disposables (4)Stephen Graham Jones - Flushboy (2)
Dan O'Shea - Penance (5)
Adam Sternbergh - Shovel Ready (3)
Annette Dashofy - Circle of Influence (4)
Jake Hinkson - Saint Homicide (4)
February - 5 new from 9
Harry Shannon - Behold The Child (3)John Buchan - The Thirty-Nine Steps (4)
John Ball - In The Heat Of The Night (5)
Paulette Livers - Cementville (3)
Agatha Christie - Miss Marple's Final Cases (3)
March - 9 new from 9 read
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| Not a fan of the book, I like the cover though! |
Les Edgerton - The Bitch (4)
Mike Resnick - Dog in the Manger (4)
Ellen Kirschman - Burying Ben (4)
Mike McCrary - Getting Ugly (4)
B. Selkie (aka Peter Robb) - Final Cut (aka No Sweat) (aka 1/3rd of Pig's Blood and Other Fluids) (3)
Mike Harvkey - In the Course of Human Events (4)
Luca Veste - Dead Gone (4)
Dorothy Uhnak - Codes of Betrayal (4)
Summary - Only 2 x 5 stars, 11 x 4 stars, 6 x 3's and 1 x 2 - overall not a bad average, with only the 1 book that wasn't particularly enjoyed.
Funny at the time of pulling this post together and assessing the stats for the year, albeit it ass-backwards, and ignoring October at this time - 58 new authors tried from 72 books read!
Q1 - 20 from 26
Q2 - 13 from 16
Q3 - 25 from 30
I do seem to have a tendency to try new writers and fortunately it has been a lot more hit than miss. Maybe 2015 I will go complete reversal and challenge myself not to read anyone new.
Col - You did indeed have a decent time of it this quarter. Glad to hear that you enjoyed what you read for the most part. And you've reminded me that I want to try that O'Shea.
ReplyDeleteUntil I did the back-tracking for the round-up I had forgotten it was earlier this year for Dan O'Shea. Hope you like it if you can squeeze it in!
DeleteCol, I have a couple of John Ball's "Virgil Tibbs" novels that I have been waiting to read since "In the Heat of the Night." He writes very well.
ReplyDeleteI loved his debut. I hope the rest of the Virgil novels are half as good.
DeleteI'm impressed but not that surprised - you always seem ready and willing to give new authors a go, and actively seek them out. (obviously because you don't have enough books in your house.) I think that's great.
ReplyDeleteThat's the problem, Moira......I don't have enough books, something I need to address urgently!
DeleteWow, I did not realize your proportion of new authors to already read authors was so high. I have mentioned before that I admire your willingness to take a chance. I am not so open; I like to find new authors but not so daring as you.
ReplyDeleteI think I have enjoyed reading new writers, though it has probably been to the detriment of my TBR pile. Perhaps I ought to try and find a slightly more even balance next year.
DeleteAnd I meant to say... I bought copy of Last of the Independents by Wiebe at the bookstore yesterday. They were having a 40th anniversary sale so made it more affordable in trade paper and supporting the independent bookstore at the same time.
ReplyDeleteOh well done - on both fronts. I hope you enjoy it whenever you get around to it.
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